Imagine, you are an important person in Japanese society in the 1800's. You have an important role to play, and lots of documents which you must keep safe. In Western society, you might lock the documents in a safe, or even in the bank, but in Japan you don't have those options. Luckily, you have something almost as safe - a Himitsu Bako or personal secret box. It takes many different, precise steps to open this box, and nobody but you and the crafts person who made it know what they are. Best of all, it is very beautiful so you can enjoy looking at it while knowing it keeps your secrets safe.
When I took this Japanese Himitsu Bako or puzzle box to show the children they were both fascinated and frustrated. They loved the box and its beautiful decoration, but couldn't find any possible way for it to open. The box seals perfectly, so much so that there is no sign of where the lid opens! Eventually, the children declared that it must be a trick and the box didn't open at all. I showed them that the box actually did open, quickly and without letting them see the movements. They tried very hard to work out where the 'trick' was, never thinking that it was a series of movements, not a simple button or switch which would make the box open. When I showed them how the box worked they were amazed at the work which went into creating such a complex box, and stunned when they learned that each box is handmade!
Secret boxes have been created in the Hakone region of Japan for well over 100 years, though the very early ones were not ornately decorated like those created today. At first they were Onsen Miage Hakone-sou or souvenirs of the Hakone region and were small, string boxes used to hold string, nails and sewing kits. Soon, the boxes, called Sikake Bako (device or trick box) and Tie Bako (wisdom or intelligence boxes) were made in larger tansu (chest) sizes which were used by workers to keep their tools safe from people stealing them. At that time, they were very simple boxes and had no ornate decoration.
The Himitsu Bako as we know it today was created after 1870 when Takajiro Ohkawa, Tatsunosuke Okiyama and Kikukawa created a box which was decorated with a craft known as Yosegi Zaiku. Yosegi Zaiku is a way of using different coloured woods to create intricate patterns. Thin pieces of wood are arranged into patterns and held together with a vice then a paper thin sheet is planed from the surface of the wood and used to decorate the boxes. These puzzle boxes can have anything from 4 moves right up to over 100! In the past, although they were expensive, they were used by upper class Japanese people to keep their secrets safe. If you would like to learn more about Japanese puzzle boxes, click here or here.